Manly's coach Kieran Foran is about to face the most challenging period of his early coaching career.
As the Sea Eagles endure a frustrating four-game losing streak, Foran "will start to earn his money as a coach" in the coming months.
He stepped into the senior coaching position at Brookvale after a successful interim role following Anthony Seibold's exit earlier this year, but the team's performance has since declined, plunging them to 10th place on the ladder.
The recent 12-48 loss to Cronulla at 4 Pines Park heightened tensions, marking a significant challenge for Foran.
Lee Addison, a rugby league coach, mentioned on the Loose Carry NRL Podcast that the Sea Eagles are "going into free fall" under Foran's guidance, which has now placed him in a critical situation as an NRL coach.
"They weren't just beaten (on Sunday), they were absolutely flogged. There were so many warning signs," he commented during the podcast.
He noted that "Foran is going to have to learn how to coach... when you take over from someone who is not popular amongst the playing group, it's easy to make everyone feel happy and get a bounce from that."
However, Addison emphasized that "when the problems start to kick in, that's when you really earn your money, and now Kieran Foran will start to earn his money as a coach."
He added that "He hasn't yet got the tools to deal with this. If he had, he'd have sorted it by now. They're going into free fall."
Pryde remarked, "Manly are miles ahead of where they should've been."
He further stated, "When they lost their first three games this year, the only place they were supposed to be was in a fight for the wooden spoon."